Toxic Hookah

Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh have released a data, which shows that one hookah session is far more dangerous when compared to a single cigarette. The findings state that one hookah session releases approximately 125 times the smoke, 25 times the tar, 2.5 times the nicotine and 10 times the carbon monoxide as compared to a single cigarette.

Hookahs are widely smoked in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. However, it is rapidly being used in the other continents such as Europe, North America and South America. Cigarette smoking in the US has taken a nosedive, thanks to the tobacco control efforts, but this fall in numbers has coincided with a surge in hookah smoking.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), a hookah session may deliver over 20 times the smoke volume of a single cigarette. The new findings only vindicate the long standing stance of WHO on hookah smoking. The findings also come at the time when the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention reported that for the first time in history, past 30–day use of hookah was higher than the past 30–day use of cigarettes among the US’ high school students.